


Old (Dead) Friends

by Bookworm1063



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27354415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookworm1063/pseuds/Bookworm1063
Summary: “It was just a joke—wait, you didn’t poison the hot dogs, did you?”“No, I—no, I didn’t poison the hot dogs!” Trevor cried.“Okay,” Luke interrupted. He stood up and crossed the room, so he was standing right in front of Trevor. “Why did you take my music?”After twenty-five years, Trevor sees his old bandmates again.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 183





	Old (Dead) Friends

For as long as their daughters had once been friends, for as long as he’d played music in that garage, Trevor had never set foot in the Molina house.

Before, that house had belonged to an older couple who’d rented out their garage in exchange for the boys shoveling the driveway in the winter. Usually, they’d get bored halfway through and end up chucking snowballs at each other, tackling and laughing until their throats were sore.

After, it had been too painful. Trevor had never gone inside. Even after Rose bought the place.

Now he was on the doorstep, one hand raised to knock, wondering what the hell he was doing.

The door swung open. Rose’s son blinked up at him. “Hi, Mr. Wilson.”

“Hello, Carlos,” Trevor said. “Is your father home? Or your sister?”

“Yeah.” Carlos turned around and dashed back into the house. Trevor lingered on the doorstep, wondering if he was supposed to step inside. He compromised by standing in the doorway.

Carlos ran down the front staircase, almost tripping over the bottom step. He caught himself and stood up, still grinning. “Dad’s on a video call. Something about work. Julie’s out in the garage with her friends.”

“Her friends?”

“The dead ones,” Carlos said solemnly.

_The dead ones._

Trevor had been expecting to hear that Julie had heard of the band and designed her holograms after its dead members, or that he’d been wrong and they looked nothing like his old friends. If he’d ever thought the word _ghosts_ , it had been fleeting, something he worried about alone at night.

“I’ll go talk to her, then,” Trevor said. “Thanks, Carlos.”

“No problem.”

Trevor started down the path to the garage. It had been twenty-five years, but he still remembered every step of the way.

The garage doors were closed. Trevor could hear the faint murmur of someone’s voice on the other side.

Trevor took a deep breath and knocked. The voice cut off.

“Come in, Dad!”

Trevor opened the door.

Rose had filled the space with her own stuff, but Trevor still recognized his old practice space. There was Luke’s old couch. There was Alex’s drum kit. There was a Sunset Curve demo CD on top of an old player.

“Oh. Hi, Trevor,” Julie said. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, one arm raised awkwardly in the air off to her side, like it had been draped over something. She dropped it and stood up. “Um, what brings you here?”

“I wanted to ask you...” Trevor trailed off and cleared his throat awkwardly. “I wanted to ask about your holograms.”

Across the room, a potted plant toppled off the windowsill, spilling dirt across the floor.

Julie spun to face the window. “Seriously?” 

“I can help you with that—” Trevor began, but Julie cut him off.

“I know it was an accident. I liked that plant… No, it’s fine. I’ll clean it up later. I’m sorry.” 

Trevor had no idea what was going on. There was no one there.

Unless…

“Julie?” he asked. “Who are you talking to?”

Julie turned to face him. “No one. Sorry. What did you need?”

Trevor wasn’t sure what he needed. It sounded crazy to say that he was probably standing in a room with his dead bandmates, and yet…

“Are they here?” he asked. “Is that even possible?”

Julie’s face closed off.

“Yes,” she said slowly. “They’re here.”

_“How?”_

Julie shrugged. “Unfinished business?”

Trevor closed his eyes. “You can see them?”

“Yes.”

Trevor’s mind was spinning. Ghosts were real, his dead friends were back, and he was the one who’d stolen their music.

“Can I see them?” he asked, even though he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

Julie winced. “That’s up to them.” She sank back to the ground, crossed her legs, and waited.

Then she said, “No, that’s your choice.”

Trevor blinked. “I thought you said—”

“Sorry, not you,” Julie said. “I know what he did. It’s what got us into this mess in the first place…. No, I’m not going to make you do anything…Don’t be difficult…Okay. Go for it.”

Over by the window, the air shimmered.

Julie smiled. “Sorry. This is kind of a new thing. They’re still figuring out—”

The air solidified into Reggie.

Trevor sucked in a breath. His hands were shaking.

Over by the drums, another outline appeared, until Trevor was looking at a blond boy in a pink hoodie. Alex.

The shape next to Julie on the floor took the longest, but eventually, Trevor was looking at Luke, too.

All three of his old friends, his best friends, were staring at him. Luke was frowning, Alex’s face was carefully neutral, and the corner of Reggie’s mouth was twisted up in a half smile.

They were all still seventeen. They looked exactly as they had when they’d died—a year older than Carrie.

Trevor remembered that night—the excitement, then the worry, the anger, the grief when he’d gotten home from stashing the gear and his mother had put the news on.

_Tragedy strikes on Sunset Boulevard._

And now here they were.

“Luke,” he said. “Alex. Reggie.” Trevor could feel the tears pooling in his eyes.

“Hi, Bobby,” Alex said. Reggie lifted one hand in a wave.

Luke said nothing. Trevor couldn’t blame him.

“I’m sorry,” Trevor said. “I’m so sorry.” God, they were so _young._

“It’s not your fault,” Reggie said. “Unless you poisoned the hot dogs.”

“Reggie,” Alex hissed.

“It was just a joke—wait, you didn’t poison the hot dogs, did you?”

“No, I— _no_ , I didn’t poison the hot dogs!” Trevor cried.

“Okay,” Luke interrupted. He stood up and crossed the room, so he was standing right in front of Trevor. “Why did you take my music?”

Trevor was not going to cry.

“It was… you were _talented,_ Luke—”

“I still am.” Luke actually sounded offended.

“Right. And you were dead. You were all dead.” Trevor’s eyes flickered around the room, desperate. “Our music was all I had left of you guys. I thought—if you weren’t there to live the dream, I’d live it for you. People deserved to hear you sing.”

Luke’s face softened. Just a little.

“I’m still mad,” he warned.

Trevor chuckled, wiping at the tears on his cheeks. “I know.”

o-o-o-o-o

Julie left Trevor and the boys alone in the garage. The conversation was awkward, full of long pauses and jokes that flew over Trevor’s head.

It wasn’t like it had been, but it was something.

“Well, just think,” Reggie said. “If you hadn’t lied about being vegetarian, you could have joined us.”

Secretly, Trevor was glad he’d lied about being vegetarian. He missed his friends, but if he’d died, Carrie never would have been born.

“Hey,” Alex asked. “What time is it?”

Trevor checked his watch. “Almost two thirty.”

“Oh.” Alex jumped to his feet, looking around the room. “I’m gonna be late.”

Luke smirked. “Have fun.”

“Shut up,” Alex said. He smiled at Trevor. “It was good seeing you again, Bobby.”

“You too,” Trevor said, confused. Alex winked out of existence. There one second, gone the next. Trevor flinched.

“He’s fine,” Luke said. “He’s got a date.”

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Trevor asked.

“Also dead. And probably not good enough for him, but we’ll see,” Reggie said.

“Yeah. It’s fine. If he breaks Alex’s heart, we’ll kill him. Again.” Luke leaned back against the sofa, propping his head up on his hand.

“I should…go,” Trevor said. “Carrie will be home from school soon.”

“Oh yeah,” Reggie said. “You’ve got a kid now.” He shook his head. “Wild.”

“Yeah,” Trevor said softly. He smiled awkwardly, making his way to the door.

Just before he stepped out of the garage, he hesitated.

“For whatever it’s worth,” he said. “I never got over it. What happened to you guys.”

“It’s worth a lot,” Luke said softly. “See you around, Bobby.”

“Sure,” Trevor said. “See you around.”

o-o-o-o-o

By the time Carrie got home, Trevor was sitting in his living room, drinking an all-natural veggie smoothie, pretending he hadn’t just had a conversation with his long-dead bandmates.

“Hey, Dad,” Carrie said. She dropped her bag in the hallway. “Anything exciting happen today?”

“No,” Trevor said. “Not a thing.” 


End file.
